PNW gifts to give friends in Israel

I know PNG is Papua New Guinea but what is PNW?

Silly me. Thanks for asking. We are in Washington State, known here as Pacific North West

If Seattle is nearby, go to the Pike Place Market and see what the tourists are buying. Should be some local crafts and doo-dads.

Photo of Mt Rainier, sunset over the Olympics with the Sound in the foreground.

I like the photo idea, I could even put it on a magnet. Thanks

I like to take a set of photo notecards from the Pacific NW with me to use as hostess gifts. They’re easily made using pretty 4x6 photo prints from local scenes, stuck onto blank notecards. Notecards and small glue pads are easily found at JoAnn’s Fabrics or Michael’s Crafts. Besides making a nice gift they can serve as a springboard for conversation about my hometown. Also, they’re small and easily packed and don’t break.

Love it! I'm traveling with my dad and we are also avid backpackers so we have plenty of photos to share! Thank you!

Steve Smith tea. We stock up every time we are in Seattle.

I wondered how popular tea would be. I was looking forward to trying some different teas while there but am not sure how different they would be. I'd hate to bring something that is completely common to the region. What do you suggest, herbal, black, green? Spicy, light, fruity?

Second the suggestion for tea - Market Spice would be my choice, or if you're willing to bring an Oregon brand, Stash has a great selection. You could pair with some honey sticks (put in checked bag, inside zip lock) or a honey swizzle stick. You can't go wrong with local chocolate. Check out Made in Oregon and Made in Washington stores for many options....Sasquatch ware is all the rage :)

Market Spice was my first thought as well. I love the honey stick idea and I forgot how much I love anything wild huckleberry from Oregon, I imagine the chocolate would be dreamy. They probably don't get many wild huckleberries in that region, eh? Thank you!

If you go w the photo idea (I love fridge magnets) go for something really different from what they see in the Israel dessert climes..... lots of evergreens in the foreground of a mt Rainer shot, or even Multnomah falls....

What we'd like most is a lot of your rain! We've had another winter without enough and it doesn't feel like we're going to get any more until next winter.

And not to rain on your parade but Israelis aren't tea drinkers. I'm a tea drinker (allergy to coffee) and I take my own tea bags when I visit friends. Israelis do like chocolate, but it has to be good quality to be appreciated - our run-of-the-mill local chocolate is quite good.

I'm sitting at my desk, trying to think of anything from Seattle . . . all that I come up with is Boeing and Apple - but not apples, which we can buy here at the markets. God only knows why, but we import apples from Washington.

I guess souvenir magnets and postcards with breath-taking views - Rainier, the San Juans . . . Note cards won't be used - our mail service is so bad most of us don't use it anymore - I got two wedding invitations recently, one hand-delivered, the other by email.

That information is so helpful! I appreciate knowing what is already available (Wa apples are sent everywhere, usuallly more fresh than what we get in our own markets) We have amazing dark chocolate in abundance, I’ll grab dark and milk chocolates and make picture magnets of some of our most beautiful lush green forests and majestic mountain scenes. Thank you so much!

Just a word of caution if you decide to take chocolates as a gift. If you can't maintain them in a relatively stable temperature until you give them away, you will risk them developing bloom - that weird whitish coating on the surface. This could easily be a problem with high quality chocolates (no preservatives) if you travel to Israel in the warmer months. And then there's the issue of melting...

That's a good tidbit, we are heading over at the end of April, beginning of May. Should be fairly mild temps I believe. Thank you for the reminder.

Portlock smoked salmon is vacuum-packed and shelf-stable. You will see the larger packages (8 oz. and 16 oz. fillets) in gift boxes at Costco and other stores. I have found the small (6 oz.) packages make great gifts, but they are harder to find. But keep it in mind if you do come across them. Most (or maybe all) are kosher, if that is important.

I think you may be surprised by how hot Israel can be in a month or 6 weeks' time.

It won't be that hot for any length of time until late May, though for people who live in Seattle or the UK, it may well seem like summer. Usually sunny skies and highs in the mid 70s to mid 80s (though places like Eilat and the Dead Sea would be hotter). The problem with chocolate is melting . . . not color changes So I wouldn't leave it in the trunk of a car during the day for any length of time, and probably not in stowed luggage on a tour bus. BTW the 'white bloom' is from excess refrigeration. We don't get really cold weather.

Our tour group told us the same. I would still consider those fairly mild temps. When it gets more than about 87 f. I get hot I have also lived in the desserts of Nevada and the Eastern side of Washington State where there is what I refer to as ‘that one week when things are green’ I exaggerate, of course, but you get the idea. Our itinerary puts us in Tel Aviv the 27th for only one night, driving by bus to Jerusalem where we stay until May 3rd. We will meet up with some friends one day while there. Our private tour at the Israel Museum is also by friends. We will then go to the Daniel Dead Sea Hotel for only one night to ‘chill’ then arrive at Ramon Resort on the Sea of Galilee for the weekend of 4th-7th, then return to Tel Aviv the 7th, departing May 10 at midnight. We will meet friends one of those days in Te Aviv, as well as a surprise at dinner our final night, which I imagine more friends will be involved. So you see gifts will be spread throughout the country and it’s temperatures. If Israelis are chocolate lovers with their own chocolate to be proud of, I may just bring some for early on, then enjoy their chocolate myself😊

Sounds great. I think you mean the RamoT Resort, which looks beautiful from its website. Chocolates will be fine in your hotel room in Jerusalem. For your Tel Aviv friends, you will probably have opportunities to pick up locally made products from the Galilee and Golan, which they will appreciate at least as much - olive oil soaps, specialty jams, bee honey, date honey, and for something a little more special, there are wonderful local wines and liqueurs. I brought some of these things back on my last visit up north to give as prizes at a Jerusalem event and they were a hit. Get some for yourself too! BTW, one of the best Israeli chocolatiers is in the Golan, de Karina, and my absolute favorite, Shulman, is in the Upper Galilee.